


I Want To Thank You

by YamiHeart



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-19
Updated: 2015-08-19
Packaged: 2018-04-15 14:48:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4610769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YamiHeart/pseuds/YamiHeart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>We all die eventually, and it's Francois' job as a reaper to make sure souls have as few regrets as possible before sending them off to the afterlife. What he can't figure out is why the soul of a kindhearted researcher in Ontario is distracting him so much. He's sent off thousands of souls before, so why is this one getting his shriveled heart to start thumping again?</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Want To Thank You

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written to fulfill the request of writing a Franada story containing the line "I want to thank you for giving me the best day of my life" from Dido's song "Thank You".

The sunset bathed the wooden buildings of the quaint Ontarian town in shades of pink and purple. Though spring should have arrived a month ago, snow still crusted every roof and lawn, giving the town a postcard look as the day came to a close. Despite the freezing temperatures and fading sun, the inhabitants were still out and about, mingling and enjoying life. Among those outside braving the cold was an odd pair of French speakers.

The first was a tall young man named Mathieu Williams. He was a native of the country but not the town, having moved to a cabin in the woods bordering the town to the East at the age of twenty-three two years prior. Most of the town’s members had been born and raised in her harsh conditions, so they had been weary of the outsider at first, but as time went on and Mathieu mostly kept to himself they accepted him as a quirk on the edge of their lives.

The second man was a mystery to the town. No one could remember him moving in, a peculiarity that was made stranger by the fact that this man was not one to be missed. The gruffer men grumbled about him being, “one of them pansy men becomin’ real popular with the ladies nowadays”, while the women could hardly stop cooing about his flowing blond locks and shaped figure. Either way, as Mathieu and the man walked, everyone talked.

But Francois –as the man turned out to be called- cared little for what the townsfolk had to say about him. By the next morning he would be gone from their lives and gone from their memories, so what damage could bits of gossip do to him? He was here to complete a job, after all, nothing more.

At least, that’s what Francois kept telling himself. The words honestly didn’t bother him, but the job did. He had completed thousands of jobs before, but never had the sunset hurt so much.

“Francois? Are you alright?”

His view of the sunset was blocked by a pair of violet eyes the sky would be envious of. Why, after all the eyes Francois had scene, were these the ones to make his shriveled heart thump?

“Oh, yes, yes.” Francois plastered on a smile. There was no point in being unpleasant at such a crucial time. “I was simply captivated by the sunset. Not many places are blessed with such an overpowering view of it.”

Mathieu smiled too, but his was completely genuine. How did Mathieu manage a smile like that knowing the situation? “You should see the stars out here. The only place you could get a better view is the North Pole. At least, that’s what they like to say around here.”

“They certainly do a lot of talking around here,” Francois mumbled to himself. Shaking his head, he grabbed Mathieu’s hand and changed the subject. “Alright. So, we saw the polar bear family you have been tracking for months, I cooked you the best meal I could with what I had, and we walked around the town for treats and goodbyes. Is there anything else you wish to do on our date?”

Mathieu shook his head. “No, that’s it really. That’s all I needed to do.”

Francois simply didn’t get it. It was Mathieu’s last day, and Francois had the power the give him anything, yet all he had wanted to do was say goodbye to polar bears and have a romantic dinner. Though Francois didn’t get it, he didn’t question it out loud, either. He was a Reaper, and his only responsibility was to help souls pass peacefully from their bodies. The judging of life was for people farther up the chain than Francois.

“If that is all, then I am afraid we must be getting back to your home.”

This time Mathieu nodded as he led Francois to his snow mobile. The ride back was overpowered by the sound of the snow mobile’s engine, allowing both men to think without tense silence. Francois could only guess that Mathieu was reflecting on his life as a whole, as was normal for people facing death. Francois didn’t know where his mind was. He had grown to be at peace with his job, and usually his mind had already jumped to the next assignment before he drew his blade. Yet as the purple in the sky turned black, Francois’ mind kept returning to images of Mathieu’s bright smile.

When the snowmobile came to a stop, Francois finally shed his unnecessary winter gear in a dramatic flourish. He felt neither heat nor cold, but when humans could see him he had to dress appropriately. Now that the coat and boots were gone, his preferred outfit was revealed: a black tailored suit with white skull buttons and cufflinks. His shoes and gloves were made of black leather that should have been stained with countless blood splashes yet were absolutely pristine. Francois thought he saw Mathieu staring from the corner of his eye, but when he turned to check Mathieu quickly looked away.

“Do we go inside, or…?” Mathieu scratched the back of his head awkwardly as he stood from his snow mobile.

“Not this time.” Francois tightened his jaw. Why was this so hard? Thousands upon thousands of people died each day. Mathieu was just another soul that needed safe passage. “You are set to be killed by a bear mauling.”

Mathieu’s gaze returned to Francois, his eyes wide with fear. “… _What?”_

Francois couldn’t look at him as he answered. “The winter has been harsh. Those bears you have been following recognize your scent and will come here for food. The mother means no harm; she simply needs to feed her cubs.” 

“Wow…” Mathieu spoke breathlessly. “Here I had been worrying about the warmer weather’s effect on them, but it’s the cold weather that does me in in the end. I can hardly believe it…” He grimaced. “This isn’t going to be a painless way to go.”

“It will not be so bad,” Francois tried to assure him. “I will be taking your soul before the actual attack. Your body will work on autopilot for a few minutes before the attack, but you will never feel a thing.”

“…I guess it could be worse, then,” Mathieu finally concluded after a few beats of thought. “And if the cubs make it to the next winter, then my death won’t be a waste.”

“That’s the spirit.” Francois removed a pen from his breast pocket, clicked the end, and in an instant held a full-size scythe in his hands. “I guess this is goodbye, then, Mathieu Williams.”

“Hey, Francois, I…” Mathieu nervously picked at the fabric of his gloves. “I just…” He took a deep breath and hit Francois with the warmest smile he had ever seen. “I want to thank you for giving me the best day of my life. It probably didn’t seem like much to you, but to me it was everything, so… thank you.”

Francois shriveled heart gave a painful thump. Then another. And another. It was practically beating, though it hadn’t done so in a little over two hundred years.

Francois raised his scythe high above his head, the metal blade turned red from the last gasps of the sunset behind him. He swung down into Mathieu’s left shoulder, stopping the motion just as the sharp tip grazed Mathieu’s heart. In a split-second decision, Francois yanked the blade straight back instead of through, which ripped Mathieu’s soul straight out of his body. Had Francois continued to slice through, Mathieu’s soul would have appeared to be a formless bundle of energy, floating around aimlessly until Francois opened a portal to the soul’s next stop. However, Mathieu’s soul was an exact copy of his body, though his clothing had all turned black.

Mathieu studied his new look curiously. “I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I’m fairly certain this wasn’t it. Black was never really my color…”

Francois tried to smile calmly despite his internal freak out. What had he done? He wasn’t supposed to be going around making new Reapers without orders from his higher ups. He hadn’t even asked Mathieu if he wanted to be a Reaper! Why had he lost his mind at the worst time?!

“Well, this is a bit of an unusual situation,” Francois explained as gently as he could. “You see, I have turned you into a Reaper.”

“A Reaper? Like you?”

Francois nodded, mentally preparing himself for Mathieu’s reaction.

Confusion crossed Mathieu’s face first, then worry, then fear. Just as Francois was sure Mathieu was about to cry, the Canadian’s lips quirked up into a smile.

“This is…pretty cool…” There was awe in Mathieu’s voice as he removed his winter coat to find that his T-shirt had also turned black. “Being a Reaper means I get to help people pass on safely, right?”

“R-Right…”

Mathieu gazed at Francois hopefully. “Do I get to stay with you?”

“I…I suppose. I am the one who turned you, so I am responsible for you. You will likely end up being my apprentice.”

“Okay, yeah, that’s really cool.” Mathieu turned around and watched his body move around on autopilot. His smile fell when he heard a crunching snow from deeper in the forest, signaling the coming of the bear that would seal Mathieu’s fate. “We…We don’t have to stay to watch this, do we?”

“No, we do not. We do not have time to, either.” Francois was going to be in a lot of trouble, so it was best to get the scolding over with. He grabbed Mathieu’s hand and led him away from the coming mauling.

Mathieu let out a sigh of relief, likely on reflex since he wasn’t breathing anymore, but inhaled the unnecessary breath right back in when his eyes turned upward.

“Francois, the stars!”

“The stars?” Francois looked up as well and saw the clearest night sky he had seen since the Industrial Revolution. The sky, usually dark as death at night, sparkled with the life of billions of stars.

“We got to see the stars together…You said we would part ways before nightfall, so I didn’t ask to see them, but we ended up seeing them together anyway…”

Francois turned to Mathieu and felt captivated by the way the stars reflected in the Canadian’s eyes. It seemed like those eyes could condemn Francois to hell if they just asked. The Frenchman was in deep, but there was no turning back now.

“You were right,” Francois murmured, his eyes never leaving Mathieu’s. “The view is spectacular here.”

Of course, what Francois meant was that the view was best when Mathieu was by his side.


End file.
